Dating Violence Victimization Among High School Students Linked to Nonmedical Prescription Drugs

The researchers found that compared with female students, male students had a significantly lower prevalence of DVV.

HealthDay News — For male and female high school students, nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) is associated with experiences of dating violence victimization (DVV), according to a study published online in Pediatrics.

Heather B. Clayton, PhD, MPH, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey for students in grades 9 to 12 to examine the correlation between lifetime NMUPD and DVV. Data were included for 5136 boys and 5307 girls who dated during the 12 months before the survey.

The researchers found that compared with female students, male students had a significantly lower prevalence of DVV. After adjustment for covariates, sexual DVV only and both physical and sexual DVV were positively correlated with NMUPD among boys (adjusted prevalence ratios, 1.61 and 1.65, respectively). For girls, positive correlations with NMUPD were seen for physical DVV only and both physical and sexual DVV (adjusted prevalence ratios, 1.42 and 1.43, respectively).

"Community- or school-based adolescent violence and substance use prevention efforts would be enhanced by considering the association between DVV and substance use, particularly NMUPD among both male and female adolescents, to address these public health problems," the authors write.